San Jose picks a new mayor every eight years when term limits sideline an incumbent, and this is the year. Santa Clara County rarely has an incompetent judge who needs to be removed, but it does now.

Voters, this is no year to sit out a primary election.

San Jose mayor

Sam Liccardo is the best candidate to succeed Chuck Reed. On this and the opposite page, there are arguments for each of the five qualified candidates for mayor, and longer versions appear online. Pay special attention to the former police chiefs' argument for Dave Cortese and then the former mayors' argument for Liccardo. Missing from the chiefs' eloquent prose is how to pay for their ideal.

City unions are campaigning hard for Cortese, who will be beholden to them. If Liccardo wins, he'll work with unions and neighborhoods -- and protect taxpayers' interests.

Superior Court

Despite nearly six years on the Santa Clara County bench, Diane Ritchie is a terrible judge. It even shows in her campaign, which prompted an ethics complaint by a litigant whose case she discussed on a YouTube video. Both attorneys running against her for Seat 24, Annrae Angel and Matthew Harris, would be far better on the bench, but Deputy District Attorney Harris is the best qualified.

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For Seat 21, attorney Dennis A. Lempert is calling himself "D A Lempert" on the ballot. He admits it's to trick voters into thinking he's a district attorney. He is not, and he is unfit to be a judge. Vote for actual Deputy District Attorney Julianne Sylva, who is well qualified.

In the District 5 city council race, Magdalena Carrasco has to defeat incumbent Xavier Campos and end the political dynasty that has tarnished the district's reputation. Campos was chief operating officer of MACSA when misuse of pension funds was uncovered. He worked for former Santa Clara County Supervisor George Shirakawa, who went to jail for corruption and faces criminal charges in dirty campaigning for Campos' first city council race.

Carrasco is hard working and well respected. The East Side needs her fresh leadership.

In District 1, labor and the Democratic Party imported termed-out Assemblyman Paul Fong from Cupertino to be a reliable pro-union vote to replace the retiring Pete Constant. Fong was undistinguished as a legislator and has no roots in San Jose. In a field of seven, his candidacy is an insult to longtime residents and community activists on the ballot.

Bob Levy is by far the best qualified, with neighborhood and citywide experience. Charles "Chappie" Jones and Susan Marsland also are good candidates. There's no reason to elect a carpetbagger.

In other council races, we recommend Van Le in District 7 and strongly recommend Don Gagliardi in District 3 for his powerful vision for downtown's growth and his dedication to neighborhood causes. In District 9 we will welcome the return of Don Rocha, who has token opposition.

Our full list of recommendations is on this page. But our main recommendation is to vote Tuesday. So much is at stake.